How Many Pistol Powders Do I Need?

[totaldla]

I always buy the best powder for a given cartridge, if possible. I like my handgun rounds on the warm side, so I don't load put-put stuff.
Silhouette for 9mm/45acp, Longshot for 40sw, Enforcer for 44mag.

[Targa]

Win231/Hp38 and Win296/H110 works for me from 9mm to 500 S&W.

[georgehwbush]

didn't hear anyone mention trailboss for the 44spl loads ;/

[noylj]

Need? Bullseye or Red Dot or AA2. That's it. You may not get fastest velocity, but you'll have good ammo.
Two powders would be Bullseye and Silhouette.
Three powders would be Bullseye, Silhouette, and 2400.

[Nick_C_S]

didn't hear anyone mention trailboss for the 44spl loads ;/

If I hear tell correctly, TrailBoss is no longer in production .

[Metal god]

"NEED" ?

2 , a fast-ish and a slow-ish but 3 would be ideal , a fast , medium and slow . Which ones of any of those would be best is really up to you and there availability and possible future availability . Example , I'd love to use Varget in some of my rifles but refuse to even work up loads using it because in all the years I've been loading it's been consistently the hardest powder to find so why bother ?

I stick with what I've seen stay-ish on shelves during panics . 231 . CFE pistol , HS6 , Titegroup , H-110 . All of those seem to be available somewhere whenever I look . I have a similar list for rifle powders . Are any of them the "best" ...... ( shrug ) maybe not but they do all go bang and I hit what I am at so .....

That isn't to say I don't use other powders and prefer them . I just make sure I have at minimum loads already worked up in those common powders in case that's all I can get my hands on . I used to love working up loads until one day I looked up and about 7 years of shooting went by . It was then I realized I had shot thousands of rounds and it was all work and no real fun . I mostly shoot to have fun now or work on my shooting skills and I care a lot less on wondering if a 10th grain here or a couple thousandths there is really going to change anything .

[georgehwbush]

Nick_C_S; oh... didn't know that. but from shopping for powders, i'd say lots of brands are no longer being produced... ;/

[Nick_C_S]

but from shopping for powders, i'd say lots of brands are no longer being produced... ;/

It sure feels like that. I do believe that these companies release cannister grade propellants in groups. i.e., they don't produce their entire propellant lineup at all times. Rather, they do one or two at a time. I'm oversimplifying, I'm sure. But through the years, I'll see a propellant - say TiteGroup - show up in one LGS, then another, then another. Then some other Hodgdon propellant will show up - maybe HS-6. Then I'll see it at all the stores, while the TG supply dries up. That sorta thing.

Right now, with Alliant (the brand I've been watching), I'm seeing a lot of Power Pistol, E3 (whatever that is) and 410. And it looks like Unique is now starting to show up.

Sure wish they'd make a big ol' batch of 2400 .

[georgehwbush]

yeah and i'm running low on RL-19 too

[lwestatbus]

First, thanks for all of the information. I and others noted that not all powders are available and the most commonly mentioned favorites among the suggestions were just not available for me.

I've been doing a LOT of shopping and research and ended up placing an order directly with Hodgdon for two products.

#1 was for more Titegroup which my local shop initially sold me when I didn't know anything about reloading. This has worked nicely for my target loads in .38 spl and .44 spl and pushed bullets out the barrel with some authority in .357 magnum and .44 magnum. I am comfortable metering it and loading it (I weigh every charge and do all steps on one cartridge so I'm not massively concerned with double charging). TG is right next to Bullseye (can't find it anywhere) on the burn rate chart and loads in .38 spl with similar grains, though I'm not sure how volume may differ.

#2 was for IMR 4227. This is the "potentially most accurate load" for .44 mag in my Lyman's 51st Edition and also listed for .357 mag. It is sort of near Alliant 2400 on the burn rate chart and very near the Hodgdon H-110.

I really loaded up my order to spread the shipping and hazmat charges out over more items. Also, dealing with Hodgdon's was great, especially Sherri at the Orders Desk. I needed to manage the shipment to be sure I could be home to receive it around some upcoming travel and she made it easy to manage this. Highly recommended.

Thanks for all of the info and advice.

Larry

[Nick_C_S]

TG is right next to Bullseye (can't find it anywhere) on the burn rate chart and loads in .38 spl with similar grains, though I'm not sure how volume may differ.

Yes, they are similar in burn rate, charge weight, and energy content. But the volume differs quite a bit. TiteGroup is much more dense. Bullseye is "fluffier," so to speak.

Take care loading TiteGroup (or Bullseye, for that matter) with 357 and 44 Magnum. At those pressures, small charge weight increases can mean big increases in pressure. I've been loading for 39 years, 10 months, and 13 days, and I wouldn't use TiteGroup (or Bullseye, for that matter) in the Magnums. And most of my experience is with 38/357, 44 revolvers.

[Metal god]

I agree with Nick , take great care with TG and magnum charges . It gets what I call Squirrely when pushed really hard . I personally would stay well below max charges when loading magnum cartridges . Some may say different and that’s fine I personally would just use a more suitable powder if I needed more velocity .

[lwestatbus]

Thanks to Nick and Metal. So, I have some .44 magnums loaded with Titegroup but it is a load that I've tested. They were much softer shooting than factory magnums but, in part from advice on this forum, I went looking for a better powder for the magnums and am going to try the IMR 4227 for the magnums.

[rclark]

am going to try the IMR 4227 for the magnums

Just remember to use a magnum primer with 4227. You get a more consistent burn.

For example in .45 Colt, when I loaded 20.0gr under a 255gr SWC for a back to back primer test over the chronograph, my extreme spread with a CCI-300 was 138fps over 30 shoots. With a CCI-350 primer the extreme spread was 69fps over 29 shots. Used a 5 1/2" Ruger BH for test gun. And yes when I was testing 30 shots was my minimum sample size. Now I just use 15 which is adequate.

And if I didn't say it before you don't have to load 'hot' loads in a .44 Magnum case. Load from 600fps to 1300+fps loads as desired with a comparable powder. Tis one good reason for reloading.

[FITASC]

I don't bother with 9mm reloading, but I do reload for 32SWL, 38, 38+P, 357 and 45
Bullseye, Universal, Titegroup, Red Dot, Power Pistol, 296 and 231 are all good possibilities. As someone said above stock up now with what works while you can get it. Alliant powder have skyrocketed in price. A friend works at St. Marks and told me the vast majority or their powders are to going to military munitions, so if Alliant stuff works for you, get what you can while you can.

[orionengnr]

I handload for five revolver loads and four autoloading pistol rounds. Plus a few rifle rounds.
Over the years, I have managed to acquire a number of different powders.
I'm sure I could live without most of them.

If you load for something like 10mm, you may want a specific powder for that load....maybe AA9, Longshot, Power Pistol.

For most everything else I load, I can do a lot with Green Dot for everything non-Magnum, and W296 or 2400 for Magnum loads.

I'm not sure what to do with the rest of my powders, but shortages being what they are, I'm not letting go of any of them, either.

If I drop dead one day and my wife dumps all that powder in the back yard and touches a match to it, the folks on the ISS will probably have a pretty good light show for 10-15 sec...

[georgehwbush]

(How Many Pistol Powders Do I Need?)

that is a catch 22 question. the powder you "need" always seems to be the one you don't have; else if you had it, you wouldn't need it.